Julius

Maybe Courtois was right Two terrific long range goals so far this tournament from him, he's been a great spark of inspiration for them. Also thank goodness we finally saw a free kick scored this tournament. Crazy that we've seen just about everything else imaginable except a direct FK goal, and in the penultimate game no less!

And just like that. Screamer. Denmark have dominated the last 10, well deserved. Let's see how we bounce back. Think the fact we've conceded our first goal in the tournament in the semi-final could work against us mentally now.

I think the aim will be for us to have a lot of the ball, but as we've seen in the last few minutes with Denmark firmly dominating the flow of the game for a spell, I don't think we have the football intelligence, pitch awareness, or focus that Spain do to actually dominate a game with possession of the ball. Which I think actually makes trying to emulate that dangerous, as passes start to get misplaced and we stick our feet in where we don't need to. We also have this tendency to drop off for no apparent reason, invite pressure, and get lucky to not concede. We're fortunate to not have come up against a team yet that's had the quality to capitalise on that, but Denmark could. Like you say, first goal will be huge. Last 10 have not been a fun watch for us though.

Here we go then. Optimistic about our chances but think the first goal will be vital in determining which way this goes. If we can get it, then I think we'll grow into the game with a bit more confidence and control the flow a bit better, but if Denmark get it, I can see us getting nervous. Got to imagine the crowd and home advantage will be immeasurably in our favour like it was in the Germany game. Fingers crossed for a good one!

Didn't get around to it on Monday, but did play the game a fair bit yesterday. Started my session off by reverting the Broadsword from Raw to +5 (also upgrading the Tower Kite Shield to +5 too), and gave the big, headless demon down by Andre a quick shot (still barely damage the thing), before heading off in the direction of Sen's Fortress. After entering the gate I heard a hissing sound, and this snake-headed guy came at me. I pulled him outside and we duked it out a bit, I probably spent a good 15-20 minutes pulling him and his friend out to get comfortable with how to parry and riposte them (I decided to only attempt it on its wide swing as opposed to its overhead swing or quick thrust), frequently revisiting the bonfire to heal up. Once I was comfortable enough with it, I carried on up the stairs to a tight pathway with huge drops on either side and swinging axes. Yeah, Frampt was right about this place behind a madhouse, that's for sure. I made it across without too much trouble, taking it nice and easy, before having to parry and riposte another snake-headed guy on the tight path after drawing him under the path above us - knew that my practice would come in handy. There were also some of his friends above and below me firing lightning my way, but I didn't pay them too much attention, and made it to the other side. I carried on forwards, taking my time and having to fight one of the lightning-throwing guys up close and personal, which is never fun. Got the parry down a bit here but had to be wary of its ability to bite me if I stayed too close, something a bit difficult to manage on a tight path with him in front and swinging axes behind! Continued on and encountered my first boulder in here, which played out pretty hilariously: I waited here until the boulder passed and ran to the left up some stairs, another lightning-throwing guy taking aim at me, and a boulder crashing down on me, forcing me into a gap, I think with a fog door. I walked through it, but the lightning-throwing guy had followed me down, and chased me around this room a bit, before one of his friends turned up and they ganged up on me. I died. I'd picked up a couple of Large Titanite Shards while in there, so from the bonfire took them on over to Andre to get both my Broadsword and Tower Kite Shield to +6. I dove back in and ended up dying to the lightning-throwing guy with two swords by the swinging axes that you come across, and after that died to the guy on the tight path under that lightning-throwing guy. My parry timing was getting worse. The next time, though, I got much, much further. Quite a few traps in the way -- I love how the enemies can interact with them too (even if it does seem a little inconsistent at times when it comes to stepping on the pressure plates). I got really lucky running up some stairs boulders were flying down to what I thought was a fog door, but wasn't, so rolled off the ledge, and then rolled off that ledge, as more and more boulders chased me down. At some point (this might have been after, I'm not sure) I came across a chest which unlike all the others I've come across was just flung in the middle of a room at an odd angle, with warning signs all over the place and bloodstains EVERYWHERE, so yeah, I didn't open that thing. I'm guessing it was a mimic, and so now that I'm pretty confident they're in the game, I'll be whacking every single chest I come across from now on before thinking about opening them to see if that does anything. I don't want to see what a Dark Souls mimic looks like. Eventually came to a mechanism which the boulders were falling down onto and shooting in four directions, and which I could turn, so I shot a few in every direction, then checked them all out. Most of them just took me in directions where I'd had to run past boulders before, but one of them had destroyed a wall in the room with hanging cages I was in before, and so I followed it down, coming to a larger room with more hanging cages, and met a wizard-robed guy called Logan. Unfortunately the cage was locked, and I didn't have a key, so there wasn't much I could do for him, but there was a pretty nice view from the end of this room at least. Eventually I circled back around and had to make my way up the path where a boulder had been flying down before, with the lightning-throwing guy up ahead. I made my way to the side room, checked to see if he had followed me in, backed up when as I went to do this he entered the room, then I tried to lock on and put my shield up...it turned me around and I was facing the wrong way, so he killed me from behind. I then got much further again, this time coming to an extremely tight path with swinging axes in the distance and a lightning-throwing guy just to the side, but he was on a ledge and I couldn't reach him. Figuring that ranged weapons were the way to go, I tried to have a go at him with my Heavy Crossbow and Heavy Bolts, but it barely did anything, sake for Throwing Knives. Turns out I picked up a Longbow somewhere...but I haven't invested in DEX at all, so was still at 11, and needed 14 to handle it properly, so that was a no go too. Stumped, I hid behind a corner for about 10 minutes trying to figure out what I should do: I can't hit him enough to take him out, no matter what I try, so do I make my way back with all of these souls I had on hand, or just go for it? Eventually, I decided, I just need to play it cool and go for it. And so I did. First time's the charm but crikey that was not fun. This fog door took me outside, and so I had a little look around - I could see the giant who was dropping the boulders down into that room with the mechanism! - before making my way up some steps, when suddenly a massive explosion went off next to me. I didn't get caught in it, but looked around, and surely enough there was a giant at the top of a tower hurling firebombs my way. I got to a safe spot and noticed a bunch of messages up against a damaged part of the wall, so I turned the camera and had a look down to find a small balcony below. I dropped down, and surely enough, there was a bonfire there! I rested up, invested the souls I had on hand in DEX (no time better to start investing in me using that Longbow, right?), and then carried on, the path taking me back to a little drop next to the fog gate I'd just walked out of before. Explored the area a bit more, finding some black-faced knights like the ones in Undead Parish, and I can parry them really well now - love the feeling of retaining your own skillset in this game. Explored a bit more, eventually came to a massive black knight (like the one I found protecting the Fire Keeper Soul in Undead Parish before), and he managed to get me stuck between him and the wall, so I died. Explored further, killing that big black knight, and eventually making my way up a tower. As I got up there I spotted a giant - the one who had been lobbing firebombs my way - and he kicked me through the wall. I healed up and went back out there, walking between his legs a lot of the time (camera can be very dizzying when doing this!), occasionally getting caught underneath him when he keeled over from tiredness, but I eventually took him out. From here I could see what looked like a MASSIVE knight beyond a big fog door that I decided not to go through before - would have to guess that's the boss of this place. I made my way back down to some of the narrow paths, and managed to jump across to the giant on the other roof dropping boulders through a hole. Took him on, and he eventually took me out, but I came back next time with a vengeance and killed him pretty quickly. Also came across this lovely view: Did a bit of grinding for souls at this point as I wasn't too far off going another level, and wanted to continue working towards using the Longbow. I attempted another - risky - jump adjacent to the one I had made to reach the giant with the boulders before, and landed it, making my way to the top of a tower and finding this extremely optimistic guy who had some items to sell... Made my way down to the bottom of this tower, and it came out to a bridge - one that was visible from the boulder mechanism room - and there was yet another lightning-throwing snakehead here too. Took him down with a few backstabs, finding the Cage Key behind him -- this must be the one for Logan. I then made my way back up, and wanted to go save Logan, so jumped over to the boulder-dropping giant, fell through the hole...but he was aggro'd and wouldn't drop anything, no matter how far away I ran. Threw myself off a ledge nearby and figured that I would need to make it back here going the "normal" route. Great. I made it back to the biggest room, the one with the overlapping paths, and noticed something glowing at the bottom. Cautiously, I edged my way around the tight ledges, eventually dropping into a small pool next to one of those headless demons like the one by Andre. He didn't aggro at all, so I picked up the nearby items, but as I walked away and another one turned up, they both started attacking, so I ran away up some stairs and followed the ladder up. There were some more items here and messages saying that there was an invisible wall, and surely enough there was; this took me out onto a balcony to face another giant (this was the one who pulled the chain in the cutscene after ringing these second bell). After taking him down I was on a slither of health and still had to make my way back essentially through most of Sen's Fortress to the boulder room...which I managed! Got the boulder to crush the wall, freed Logan, grabbed the nearby item, and knowing I probably wouldn't make it back in one piece, threw myself off a nearby ledge to spawn back at the bonfire. Quite happy that I'd managed to almost fully explore Sen's Fortress (at least it felt that way!), I can only remember one item in that big room that I couldn't figure out how to get to, but I don't mind. It was finally time to make my way through the fog door and take on the boss: the Iron Golem. So, the first time went about as poorly as you'd expect, and I died...but not for the most obvious of reasons. Walking through his legs and sticking close to observe his attacks I just managed to walk off the ledge, so for the first time in these games I think, I was laughing at having died at a boss. No idea why the arena is like this, but it changed things up a bit, and the fact that he can grab and throw you - potentially off this very high tower - was very funny too. Love the music, especially when the violins and piano go off in a tizzy. The second time around I died trying to get too much distance between us to heal and he killed me with his air slash from behind. The third attempt went much better, even though I still died, as I managed to get him down to half health before kicking the bucket this time. My strategy was to stay close with my shield up, walk between his legs and try not to get grabbed, then two-hand slash his ankles a few times. After getting him down by a third he stumbles like a drunken buffoon for a solid 10 seconds, before eventually falling over. The fourth attempt didn't go quite as smoothly. Even though I got him down to half health again, I found out that the hitbox on his grab is INSANELY big, you can be more or less behind him and he will grab in front of him, and he'll stick pick you up. That was fun. As I'd been walking through his legs to this point I decided I'd start jogging through instead. The fifth attempt was probably the worst one, he trampled me pretty early on and I didn't even get to use an Estus, I think locking on bit me in the ass a bit here. I decided that on my next attempt I wanted to see if you could dodge roll through / away from the grab animation. And surely enough, you could. My sixth attempt went much better: didn't have to use an Estus until after it was down to half of its health, I could dodge roll through the grab, and I don't think I got grabbed once. But then I noticed a gold ring on the bridge behind where he was originally standing, went to interact with it, and...nothing. Making my way back to the middle he hit me a bunch, so I got through my Estus Flasks pretty quickly with a lot of work left to do. I would draw him in, dodge through the grab, two-hand slash away, run to the other side to pull him into the middle, and repeat. And eventually - with a pretty aggressive ending where I just went for it, which could have ended badly - he went down. The gold ring from before moved itself to the centre of the arena, but before interacting with it, I wanted to spend my souls. Got myself up to DEX level 14 so that I could use the Longbow, and then spent the rest buying 183 Heavy Arrows and 15 Firebombs. After this, I made my way back over and interacted with the ring of light... ...and so it was up to Anor Londo! Such a well done cutscene, just look at how dark the area around the ring of light is, the freaky nude gargoyle-like creatures grabbing you and whisking you away, this foreboding and unnatural humming noise...before this golden sky greets you as you sail over the wall, the choir taking hold triumphantly of the moment, before it ends with a melancholic bar. Awesome stuff, and such a great contrast to the rest of the game: this place feels special. Made my way down the stairs to be greeted by this giant golden knight, who didn't seem too interested in me, so I carried on into the room next to him, where there were two more. It looked like they were protecting something at the back of the room, but feeling intimidated I didn't want to fight, so tried to have a nose around to see if there was anything there, before one chased me off into this massive courtyard. With what looked like the top of a tower to my right and more giant golden knights up ahead, I hooked left and looked down a narrow staircase going down, at the end of it a bonfire. I made my way down and rested, a Fire Keeper nearby offering to reinforce my Estus Flask with a Fire Keeper Soul I'd picked up before. Didn't do that yet - we talked a bit and I learned a bit about Anor Londo and the Fire Keepers - before resting up and saving. I was happy with where I'd got to for the day, and it seemed like a natural finishing point to my session. I'm not sure if I'll get back to Anor Londo today - I would love to, but I'm feeling a little feverish after my jab yesterday, so I'll have to wait and see. But whenever I do get back to it, I can't wait to continue my journey and explore this place.

Case in point: #CovidIsOver is trending right now. My issue with leakers in gaming will always be that for software, they're robbing the development team of what should be their moment in the spotlight, and for hardware...well it never really pans out the way they say, does it? And then you end up with people angry or upset because of how they've managed to psych themselves up for something not really promised. I err on the side of optimism when it comes to leaks like a Switch Pro, because it'd be great for us consumers, it'd do good business for Nintendo, and it would have helped - from a technological perspective at least - to raise the bar on what they're capable of developing. It's disappointing that it's not real, and I totally think it's fair to be disappointed, but I just don't understand when you get rampant fanboyism on any side acting like something like this is a feather in another side's cap (whether that be journalists flexing a superiority complex or the CoNsOlE wArS) -- I understand why it exists, all of human history is a testament to us putting up walls and escalating things over our differences (in opinions, skin colour, gender, what have you), I just think it's taken too far and too seriously a lot of the time (like with pretty much everything else these days, unfortunately). For gaming - something that I think is either to pass the time, have fun, or challenge yourself - the immaturity of some corners of gaming really is something else. I don't think there are many, if any, other industries which have as many people willing to fall on a sword in their declaration of loyalty for a company that couldn't care less about them. People are weird.

Unfortunately a lot of industry folk don't seem to want to let it die just yet, be it for clicks or what have you, a few of them saying that they'd always heard 2022: To be fair he did say that at the start of June too, but it doesn't seem to be the end of the Pro talk...when I kind of wish it would be. I think it's a bit disappointing that this isn't a Pro model, but I still like the look of it. I'll never understand people getting up in arms about it (not here, but rather the echo chamber out there: social media), but I guess that's just par for the course with something like this. Remind me again, this was the one that came out in the second half of 2019 with the red packaging, right? I got mine in April 2019...so...I guess that's one way I'll be attempting to justify picking this up leading up to and beyond its launch Think I'll ponder it a little longer, but the nice thing at the moment is that it doesn't look prohibitively expensive either, in terms of either the physical games I'd be interested in or the actual console and gamepad itself. It's refreshing when just about everything else has skyrocketed in the last 6-12 months, so I'll probably need to jump on it sooner or later. Between that, the Switch, and my New 3DS XL, think that gives me access to about as much of Nintendo's back catalogue as I could want, besides any super specific games still locked behind the GBA and GC. Definitely feel like I've been dragging my heels on digging into some franchises, such as waiting for Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and the Prime Trilogy to come over to the Switch, but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. Shame, really. Don't be surprised if I post in a thread soon asking for recommendations! Yeah, I think they'll have had more time to optimise it for sure, especially after 5+ years in development once it's out (probably more like 4/4.5 due to COVID), so I really do hope that they've managed to improve things this time around. I have other issues with Breath of the Wild, but the frame rate tanking to all hell in one of the key areas in the game is a pretty big one. I'm a bit nervous about when we see Legends: Arceus next, too. It looked rough when they showed it off, but they told us at the time that it was a version of the game that was a few months old, yet without some extra horsepower being made available, I'm struggling to see how Game Freak on their own could make an open world like that actually work well, from a technical perspective. Still holding onto the hope that Monolith Soft are supporting them to some extent.

Best match of international football I've watched in my lifetime. Both sides giving their all, that togetherness of each side, figuring each other out in front of our eyes and spilling their hearts out onto the pitch. Feel sorry for Morata, he's had a good tournament but his confidence will be shattered yet again. Fantastic penalties from Bernadeschi, Thiago (looking to his right until the last second and snapping it back to the left, wonderful), and of course Jorginho -- pretty sure Simón clapped once he picked himself back up, it seriously takes some doing to watch the goalkeeper the entire time. I'd love for England to beat Denmark, and I'd love for us to beat Italy...but I'm not going to get carried away, and if we do somehow win it, over the course of the tournament, it won't have been deserved. There's been one team head and shoulders above the rest since the opening night, and that's been Italy. Got to take it 90 minutes at a time, but I pray that, whatever the result, the match against Denmark tomorrow is a firecracker. It would be an injustice to the quality of this tournament if we end up seeing a repeat of our 0-0 draw performance against Scotland in the group stage. The fans coming back in force have made all of the difference so far this tournament, I've loved it. This'll be a Euro's I think we'll all remember for a long, long time to come.

Italy hanging on by a thread here, but they've been resolute. Doesn't deserve to end, but penalties would be a cruel way to resolve this match.

Couldn't be more excited by the prospect of extra-time for this match. Both teams have proven that they are more than worthy of making it through -- a real semi-final worthy of being the final itself. I think the longer this goes on the tougher it's going to get for Italy, purely because they've had to do a lot more chasing in normal time than Spain. They need to come out with pace and grab what they can as soon as they can; they can't afford to chase this another 30 minutes, because they need something in the tank to counter. This should be good

Oh man these Italy changes are making me very nervous for them. Barella has been getting less of the ball, so having Locatelli come in to help with the battle in the middle of the pitch makes sense...but unless Insigne is actually injured (seemed to have a bit of a niggle) I think his influence will be missed up front. Then again, his pace certainly dropped off in the last 10. Morata tearing the defence apart, might be a stroke of genius from Enrique. He's a very fast striker and can stretch two legendary - but importantly, aging - centre backs apart to make space in the middle. Bringing him immediately changed Spain's shape and Italy have been struggling to adapt - because they have no time to. Hope Italy can see the rest of this half out.

Game on! Happy for Morata, he always looks like he lacks confidence, but it's been coming. Italy are getting overrun in the middle of the park now Verratti is gone - we're seeing Chiellini have to come into that space to shut player down - and now all of the momentum has gone Spain's way. Cracking game, this will be ones coaches point to for a looooooong time, an instant classic. Give me that extra-time I asked for before and I'll be happy.

Emerson coming off makes sense, he's become a bit tired in the last 15-20 minutes and hasn't gone forward as much as he was earlier in the game, inviting pressure. Taking Verratti off seems like it could be a decision which Mancini could end up regretting, though, if Spain do manage to nab an equaliser.

Brilliant goal from Chiesa! This is a classic of a match already. Unbelievable stuff from both sides, Spain dinking it around and then Italy countering - and just in time too, because they started looking a bit tired there. I'm getting tired just watching this match. Love it.

This has been one hell of a 0-0 so far some 55 minutes in, would gladly see another 30 minutes with extra-time. Real end-to-end stuff, you can see the teams on the pitch figuring each other out, repositioning themselves, and you're seeing both sides having to adapt to what's in front of them. Been one of the more cerebral games of football I've ever seen. Some great chances too, just missing some goals.

I want Italy to win and think they've been the better team this tournament, but it's possible. I think the match will be won on the flanks, and I think Spinazzola's absence is going to have a huge impact on the game: do Italy give Emerson what is normally Spinazzola's responsibility - of roaming forwards and linking up with Insigne - and still revert to 3 at the back, leaving their flanks pretty open to the counter? Spain's high-pressing possession also leaves them open in a similar position. Do they sit a little deeper to invite them in? Probably not, it's Spain, but you never know Italy just need to not let Spain dictate the pace and momentum of the game. Will be an interesting one I'm sure!

I opened the link and this was my reaction too I just don't know how much of a game like that you can communicate in (hopefully less than) 10-15 minutes, it's not like that's enough time to dive deep with the systems, and while you could show some ridiculously insane run like I've seen people do in some of the Dishonored games, it's not going to be a great representation of what people should be expecting as moment-to-moment gameplay for your average player. For indies, I'm kind of expecting an update on Kena here, and maybe some of the other indie titles we saw at their presentations last year (I really want to see more of Little Devil Inside), and I feel like Solar Ash needs a good showing here, as it's been shown off so poorly elsewhere. Final Fantasy XVI is the only big AAA game that I really want to see here, though. It's been nearly a year since the first (and last) trailer, I know they're saving it for next year for the anniversary, but it's time. Especially with how poorly Square Enix disemboweled the IP at their own E3 event, with the remasters that shall not be named and the absolutely terrible trailer for Stranger of Paradise, I think they need to just appease fans a bit. Though, they might be holding onto it until Tokyo Game Show? But hopefully not!

Oh yeah, I think this release more than anything - with it not being a Pro - is them having anticipated a potential dip in sales this financial year and doing something to keep it going. It's releasing the week after the end of their Q2/H1, so you definitely get the feeling it's well-timed to stabilise any potential concerns over a dip. My biggest concern now that we aren't getting a Pro is a returning one over how the densely forested areas are going to run in the Breath of the Wild sequel. For me it's been nice as someone who grew up mainly on their handhelds to branch out and get to experience new entries in their franchises (as well as a good number of ports, remasters, and remakes), but for me personally, there haven't been as many games as I had expected going in and picking up a Switch that I've been interested in. There's been the odd few games being added to my shelf (which I don't mind doing because I guess their prices won't go down anyways), but I'm seriously missing the presence of Virtual Console (the NES and SNES apps aren't cutting it for me), and the eShop is a bit of a nightmare to explore, so I haven't been nosing around for weird games like I might normally be (not that virtual storefronts are much better elsewhere at the moment). I've genuinely been thinking of picking up a Wii U lately, as there are a load of Virtual Console and Wii games I'd want to play there, as well as a few games which don't seem to be getting ported anytime soon (Wind Waker and Twilight Princess for starters). Total aside, though: this thing has to have a different theme to the two we've had since launch on the regular Switch...right? Can we see some folders too please?

XVI or we riot.

For me, I'm really liking the white Joy-Cons, and I really like the actual design of the new dock itself (the smaller logo footprint makes it look sleek), even if it looks a bit tacky in white. I don't know what's up with console manufacturers pushing white all of a sudden (clearly we need to get the Series S instead of X now, so it all matches, right?), but the white PS5 has really grown on me, so that won't turn me away! Like @Hero-of-Time I also play the vast majority of the time in docked mode, and I also haven't played my Switch in a while, though that's just because I own other consoles and I've been putting a couple of games off for other things. But then I think about next year when the BotW sequel is aiming for release (so probably 2023), and that's a game like the first one where I absolutely would bring it with me around the apartment and potentially elsewhere. I might stick a pre-order in when they go up and have a think about it, but like others I am a bit disappointed that it's not a Pro model, because the Switch is quickly showing its age, and the increasing frequency of next-gen games over the next 6-12 months will only further emphasise that fact. Let's see what the price of this thing is first I guess. Yeah, so this is the part that's stumping me a little bit. We've heard for years now that the aim for the Switch is to have a longer life cycle than some other consoles in the past, but with this not being a mid-gen refresh like the PS4 Pro or One X...how is that being accomplished exactly? Because now I'm waiting for a Switch 2 between 2023 and 2025, which was almost the expectation anyways, even after the Pro rumours started turning up. I guess they might just be counting a potential true successor to the Switch as being a continuation of the Switch family, but it is odd.

Internal stuff: Yeah I changed it, bugged me once you pointed it out too. Mainly took it out to save the two sets of brackets (with the date)

First dose get! People behind me in line were my best mate from primary school and his older brother, had a bit of a catch-up as we walked out, which was nice. And then one of the girls from my high school year group I used to hang out with came in...but pretty sure she didn't recognise me because of the mask. Picked up a McDonald's breakfast on the way home, I'm off work today and tomorrow just to be on the safe side, so just going to relax More seriously though: what are everyone's thoughts on good old Boris tearing down most of the rules and not enforcing masks from the 19th? It seems like an extremely naive and shortsighted decision (and obviously not the first one from this government). I'll continue wearing my mask until I at least get my second jab (towards the end of September), but to be honest, as someone who has had a pretty bad run of health the last few winters, I'm tempted to just wear it in most indoors situations for the foreseeable future anyways.

No problem! No rush, but would enjoy reading your thoughts if/when you get around to trying one out!

Made some decent progress yesterday. Took my first steps through the door down to Blighttown, and the change in colour palette to blacks and greens immediately filled me a good bit of dread (though not quite as bad as the Tower of Latria in Demon's Souls). Made my way down the ladder, and as I start crossing this wooden bridge an ogre runs over to me, so I just circle him a fair bit and get off a few backstabs. Not too bad a start. Continue forward, the next one comes over, and as it charges up its first attack - the walking overhead swing - I got stuck on something, blocked its attack, but then plummeted to my death. Made my way back over, and this time figured that, as these guys move pretty slowly, I'll try and parry. They hit me a couple of times, but after a short while, I was pretty dependably able to parry all of their attacks, and just had to keep an eye on the poison gauge. I had over 8k souls before coming down here, and after beating a few of them and retrieving my souls was at over 10k, so made my way back to the bonfire and used a good chunk of it to level up, as I figured it would give me more chance to practice parrying and also because I can zone in a bit better when there are fewer souls on the line. So, made my way back on over, parried the attacks from the ogres, and then these right freakos come running out of the shadows - they looked a bit like the Depraved Ones from Demon's Souls, but...freakier. Took them out and then dealt with this guy who blew toxic darts, followed the path around by him and rolled down to find some armour. It really isn't fun traversing narrow beams and bridges in the dark, especially with how ladders seem to have a habit around here of blending into their surroundings. Anyway, I must have aggro'd some of them as I heard them smashing pots and falling to their dooms all around me, and I couldn't see any of them. Made it over to this concrete area on the other side when I got caught between two of them and got killed, the way they jump on and bite away at you is pretty disturbing stuff. I then got back to the same place - woo! - and died again - haha - as some guy in the distance blew toxic darts at me while these freaky, furless fire pups chased me around along with some of those freakos I mentioned before, and this just as I was about to consume some Estus. I made it back to the same spot and then made it much, much further than I did before, looping around Blighttown, seeing this freaky wall creature off in the distance (and naturally opting to not head in that direction), getting better at reading the freakos (this is their name now ) - either by parrying them, reading their lunge when they try to snack on you so that I can move to the side and they fall off, or (sometimes precariously) moving around them as they attacked for a good old backstab and kick off the ledge - and just taking it nice and slow. Eventually I managed to get behind the wall creature (there was a hole behind it), but I couldn't see its health bar or if I was doing damage, so I just whacked it for a minute and it eventually died. At this point I was on a slither of health (less than a bar) and out of Estus, mainly searching for a bonfire, but I carried on. Came across an ogre, who I managed to parry and riposte, before a freako turned up, and I made decent work of him too. Eventually I got close to the bottom, see some of these giant fire-breathing mosquito things (I'm guessing mosquitoes because there are also actual mosquito-looking things down there too), and pull out my Heavy Crossbow and Heavy Bolts I'd picked up before, as a nearby note said to try ranged attacks...but I was too far away. I went down there, drew it out, and the Heavy Bolts weren't that effective, so I carefully made my way around it as it whipped some fire around and cut it up from behind. Ditto for the next one. And then, naturally, one of those toxic dart guys got me. Hate those dudes. I did come across something on this attempt which gave me a chuckle though, a freako falling endlessly into...the corner Well, the next time? I went a slightly different route when I made it to the concrete side...and immediately found a bonfire. Go figure! I then continued to make my way down, retrieved my souls, slowly dealt with a whole bunch of those giant fire-breathing mosquitoes, and I had made it to the bottom! I could see a white land mass on the opposite side of the lake, with some items strewn about in-between, but I headed immediately right, as I figured I could circle my way around the lake and try picking up the items without setting a foot in the swamp. Well, I was wrong, and got poisoned pretty quickly, but thankfully - as had been the case up to this point too - I had a lot of Purple Moss Clumps to hand from my time in Darkroot Garden, and so I was fine. Eventually I came to a small cave, and found a bonfire! Spent as much of the souls I had to hand as I could, headed to the back of the cave and found a Dragon Scale (the chest and a note left to it seemed sketchy so I whacked it ahead of time, because I figured I'd get attacked from somewhere as I opened it). I then made my way back out of the cave and continued heading right, eventually coming across a waterwheel. I figured the direction I needed to head was the other side of the swamp, but what could be the harm in checking it out? The mental damage sustained through death would be the answer. The first time, I made it over a branch and heard some clanging nearby, so figured there must be a blacksmith around here (in hindsight this was from the guy shooting toxic darts at me), and seeing some flames not too far below that kind of looked like a fire, I rolled off the side...and died. Whoops. The second time I had exhausted my search of this area and was making my way back over the branch and slipped off. Whoops again. After that, I decided to head on over to the other side of the lake, as I couldn't see a way forward by the waterwheel. Swatted away some mosquitoes - big and small - then came across some ogres who wanted to play catch with some boulders as I made my way around picking some items up in the swamp, but I eventually make it to the other side. The white colour I'd noticed before was from everything being covered in webbing, and I headed down through a tunnel into Quelaag's Domain, the clanging sound of a bell - the second bell! - getting louder and louder, and I came across some guys on the floor that were praying. They didn't seem interested in me, so I carried on, eventually coming to a fog gate. I stepped through, and was treated to a cutscene, where this flaming spider thing lugged itself around, but eventually revealed itself to have the upper half of a topless woman attached to it. She gives a dry smile before the battle starts. Got to say, thought the way they played with your expectations for the boss's appearance was handled really well. Yeah, I died first time to Quelaag, mostly down to not having any Estus left by the time I made it over due to my time in the swamp, but I got to learn a good chunk of her moveset at least. The second time around I unfortunately learned, as I was slashing away at her spider legs, that this thing had an explosion AoE, and so that got the better of me. The third run went really well, at this point I decided to run past everything in the swamp and just use a Purple Moss Clump to heal myself from the poison (which would take between 15% and 20% of my health). I got Quelaag down to less than a third of her health this time, but I'd run out of Estus a while ago and while strafing took a step back into some lava spewed out by her before. It was on that attempt that I came up with a general strategy: strafe, keep my distance as she pulled out her flaming sword and tried to catch me with it's spin and thrust attacks, then when it does it's sweeping lava spray attack, I'll hit it's leg furthest out with some two-handed slashes and then run away. I did also toy a bit with rolling through the flame attacks with some i-frames, but it didn't seem to give me too much of an advantage. On my fourth attempt I died after getting her down to half health, but I knew I had a bit wreckless with my Estus management as I got through them quite quickly. It was worse the fifth time, and I didn't even manage to get her down a third. The sixth attempt was a particularly annoying death where I tried to roll away between Quelaag and the wall, but couldn't see myself because of the camera's angle and rolled into one of her attacks. The seventh time was the charm, though! I had felt myself getting a bit wreckless on my last few attempts so I took it slow, drew out her attacks, rolled through the flaming sword, coaxed her as best I could into using the fire spray attack as that's when I could get the most damage off, all the while strafing, deselecting my lock-on and looking around quickly to make sure I wasn't about to guide the fight towards some lava she had spewed out, and then quickly locking back on and continuing to strafe. I got very aggressive (and maybe a bit lucky) at the end, slashing her two-handed five times instead of the three I used for most of the fight, as I didn't want to risk it after running out of Estus. Good battle, and great track backing it up (made even better by the bells you can hear in the game, but which they didn't add to the actual OST): After defeating Quelaag, I got my composure back and carried on, eventually coming across a lever -- which I pulled. And, just like that, the second Bell of Awakening had been rung. I was treated to a quick cutscene of a giant pulling some chains which raised the gates I had found before, on the other side of Undead Parish, next to Siegmeyer. Guess that's where I'd be heading next! I carried on down the steps and eventually came to a room with what looked like an elevator, but I stepped on it and it didn't seem to do anything. There were some signs off in the corner, which told me there was an illusory wall ahead, and it turns out there really was. Spoke to this nice guy called Eingyi, who was shocked I hadn't brought any eggs...and next to him was a bonfire and another half-woman half-spider hybrid. I tried talking to her, but she didn't seem to understand a lick of what I was saying, so I carried on. Took a few steps out into the next area - Demon's Ruins - and lit it's bonfire...before feeling like this place looked and felt like a bit much. I had rung the second bell, I knew that the path forwards was seemingly up above ground on the other side of Undead Parish, and so I bailed. I figured I'd give the waterwheel another shot, as the only alternative was making my way all the back up through Blighttown, which wasn't an exciting prospect. I quickly found a ladder I somehow didn't notice before, so carried on up, but following the path around, I fell taking on a guy shooting toxic darts at me and was quickly surrounded by the furless fire pups, and a bunch of other toxic dart guys too. I died. Made my way all the way back over there from Quelaag's Domain, and died again. Fun. The next time I made sure to make it back to the nearby bonfire (which I never kindled), then ventured back up, and found a different path to follow instead, coming across some ogres. The first one was fine - parry and riposte against these guys was all good - but the real challenge came when I accidentally drew the next two out at the same time, and so had to face them both down at once. Going back there was a risk of running into the toxic dart guys, and going forwards - but with my face to these ogres - there was a risk I'd get attacked from behind, and so I made the choice to take them on. It was rough, there were times where I would parry and riposte or backstab one and the other would come bumbling in and whacked me the moment my animation and i-frame advantage was gone, so I got poisoned a few times and had to back off a few times to swig some Estus Flasks down and get rid of their poison with Purple Moss Clumps -- and it got really close a few times. In the end, once I'd taken one down, it wasn't much bother taking out the other, but I did manage to do something I haven't done in this game yet against them: a double parry! I was pretty proud of that! I carried on forwards and eventually made my way out into a small canyon area called the Valley of Drakes. There was a small bridge to the other side, with a locked door -- luckily for me, I picked the key up somewhere before, and so I unlocked it. At this point I was down to my last 2 Estus Flasks, so I knew I had to be careful. I followed the stairs up, eventually coming out into the dark of the New Londo Ruins. There was no way I was going to be able to withstand another area, even if I found a bonfire soon - I was definitely drained at this point and just wanted to get back up to the surface. I was surrounded by more guys praying, but I chose not to interact with them. There was a slope heading down, but I wanted to go up, so looked to my left and there were some steps and what seemed like a tower going up. I made my way up the steps and followed them around, eventually coming making my way to an elevator. I head on up, take a step out, and I hear the first few notes of this, immediately realising where I was. I take a few steps forwards, and surely enough: I had made it back to Firelink. Chills. I stepped outside and followed the path around. I came across this barred cave, interacted with it and it said 'Dead'...okay, I don't even know who was in there, so what are you trying to tell me, game..? I continue on up and find myself coming out of the steps down that I mentioned avoiding at the very start of the game -- and hadn't gone down since! I take a few steps forward, go to rest at the bonfire, and... Fire Keeper is absent? Who the hell is the Fire Keeper -- and why can't I use my favourite bonfire? I talk to the guy nearby and he says the place is filled with a stench (of blood, I guess?), and he mentions that he might take care of it himself. And then I slowly piece it together: the thing I interacted with in the barred cave below - 'Dead' - must have been the Fire Keeper. I'm not one to point fingers, but I'm going to hazard a guess that it was that bastard Lautrec. I knew I should've killed him. I haven't seen him since accidentally freeing him. For a moment, I was pretty frustrated. I hadn't even gone down that way before, hadn't met the Fire Keeper, and now I couldn't light the bonfire in the only place in the game I truly felt safe? But that anger quickly died down: I found something very poetic about overcoming the part of the game I knew I'd dread the most - The Depths and Blighttown - to miraculously return to the only place in the game I felt safe, only to find out that it was never safe at all. The Fire Keeper died without me ever speaking to her. And it was freeing, almost like the game was telling me to just go continue my journey, and detach myself from this safe place; it's symbolic of my relationship with the game, which is pushing myself out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways, and it felt like a cathartic moment where the game - intended or not - is kind of screaming that staying in your comfort zone can be dangerous too. What else had changed around Firelink? As I found out, not too much...other than this right freak called Frampt sticking his head up from the depths of the shrine. He told me a bit more about my purpose, that I was heading to a place called Sen's Fortress (filled with traps? Sounds like a madhouse), and eventually a place beyond that called Anor Londo to get something called the Lordvessel. Sounds like gibberish right now, but imagine it'll make sense sooner rather than later. I used the lift up and made my way over to the other side of Undead Parish, and used both of my Large Titanite Shards: I upgraded my Broadsword to +6, but then accidentally while looking around turned it into a Raw Broadsword (there wasn't even a greyed out method to get +7, so I figured that might be the end of that path). I've looked it up since and it seems a pretty bad idea for me to go with Raw (seems to be for a STR/DEX build and I've put nothing into DEX), so I'll probably have to start my next session off by trying to undo that, seemingly to a +5 and with no way to get my Large Titanite Shards back. Hopefully there'll be somewhere later in the game to farm them. But for now, next time... ...it'll be onto Sen's Fortress.